1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure pertains to a so-called hold-down mechanism for engaging a corner casting of a container and restricting the container from vertical movement during its transport. Specifically, the locking arrangement disclosed herein includes a reciprocable member having an eccentric or locking pin which may be rotated and adjusted to align with locking openings on a corner casting.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art container hold-down mechanisms have generally provided a latch or hook mechanism which in some cases is spring biased to automatically engage and disengage from a container corner casting. Because of the various lengths of containers, some attempts such as the Smith U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,363 (1971) have been made to provide container hold-down devices which are movable along the length of the supporting chassis. While these movable hold-down devices have received some success in the market place, there are some inadequacies because once the hold-down member is set in place for holding 20 foot or 40 foot containers there is no mechanism provided for adjusting the location of the lock or hook to align with corner castings of containers which might vary slightly in location due to abuse received during handling or dimensional variations which occur during manufacturing.
Another type of container hold-down arrangement is shown in the Tantlinger et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,259,400 (1966) which shows a container supported upon a chassis and restricted from vertical movement by a number of spring biased locking pins which move horizontally into aligned openings on the container. Such a locking arrangement is desirable for providing positive locking between the chassis and the container; however, like the earlier described patent, the locking mechanism is not provided with structure for adapting the mechanism to locate and fit into misaligned locking openings.